Santa Cruz AirBnB Experience (July 2023)

I booked this trip months in advance for my birthday weekend and everything seemed pretty normal (I’ve booked dozens of AirBnB trips, and several specifically in the Santa Cruz area).

The night before we arrived, I received my first communication from Janet with detailed information about the door locks. It was via text message to my phone number rather than the AirBnB messaging system I’m used to hosts using, but it didn’t bother me at the time.

We arrived shortly after our agreed upon check in time and everything looked and worked great. There was plenty of parking and the home looked just like the photos. There was even a lovely gift basket with snacks in it and a card wishing me a happy birthday! Excellent. Loved it.

Underneath the card were brochures for Janet’s property management services, including a list of other properties she manages. A little odd, but okay.

We explored the space and unpacked our bags. We noticed they have a built-in doggy door to the backyard which our two dogs loved the entire weekend. Great feature.

The entertainment center was complicated but we figured it out. We later found 5 pages of printed out instructions for using it and appreciated the level of detail. We laughed together at the last line on the fifth page saying “I hope this isn’t too complicated.” It was endearing.

A little over an hour later, I received another text from Janet asking if everything was okay. I replied that it was all good so far. Then she began talking about how the trash bins were full (the ones outside that one would drag to the curb for pickup) and she wanted me to drag them to the street on Sunday night. I wish it was included in the communications before we confirmed our booking, but it seemed reasonable enough. No big deal.

Then she started telling us more instructions and house rules that weren’t in any previous communications about the rental. Nothing unreasonable, but it was just odd that this was being communicated this way.

Then she said she wanted to “chat about a few more details tomorrow” which put me off a bit. I already agreed to clear terms for this rental. I’m not interested in spending my vacation time discussing logistics with a stranger who’s so far just been adding obligations to my trip that I never agreed to previously.

The next day, while out at the beach with my friends, I received a phone call from Janet that I ignored. She then texted me to call her back for “a few owner requests” which I also ignored. This was an unreasonable disruption of my relaxing vacation that I was hoping to unplug during.

On our third day, we went kayaking and left a few of our friends back at the house to keep the dogs company. While we were on the water, our friends informed us that they had an emergency come up and had to head home early (they originally intended to stay with us that last night). About 30 minutes later, I received a message from Janet that one of our dogs was barking loudly. We couldn’t do anything about it until we got back, so we rushed home as soon as our kayaking tour was over. I apologized, explained the unforeseen situation, and promised that the dogs wouldn’t be left alone at all the rest of the trip.

Later that night, she sent another message reminding me to drag the trash bins to the street that night.

The next morning, the day of our checkout, we awoke to a text from Janet before 9am (our checkout time was 11:00) with insturctions for more chores we never agreed to or heard about previously. We had already handled most of those chores because we’re experienced and conscientious BnB guests, so it was just a rude awakening and minor annoyance.

Then she said “We never got to talk so I’m sorry this communication has become like a checklist instead of my usual welcome in person”. I didn’t know an in person greeting was involved. I never experienced one before in any other vacation rental I’ve done and I thought the mention of it in the listing was optional.

I explained to her that we had a great time and loved the home. I did my best to share the most constructive parts of my feedback about preferring house rules and check-out tasks be clearly communicated before we book or confirm our booking in the future. Ambushing us with all these extra chores after we’re already there unpacking our stuff felt unfair and disrespectful of my time and privacy.

She expressed her dislike for texting and preference for in-person or phone calls, and I expressed my opposite preferences.

Again, I have never needed to spend this much time and effort communicating with a BnB host where nothing major went wrong before. And this person seemed upset with me that I didn’t spend more time doing that.

Then she replied “Other AirBnB’s may be more your style” and “Most guests love to meet me in person and walk through the house briefly together so they know how the systems work- our human not mechanized approach.”

At this point I just stopped responding. We were on the road home and this wasn’t productive or enjoyable.

Our stay was absolutely lovely except for being asked to anticipate and accommodate Janet’s emotional needs and communication preferences.

(I have a full log of all these communications saved if anyone at AirBnB wants to see it.)